Rebeca Andrade, a 25-year-old six-time Olympic medallist, is maybe the only gymnast who constantly keeps Simone Biles on her toes.
She is essentially the equivalent of the most decorated gymnast in the world, being the most decorated gymnast in Brazil. Her mother and siblings’ sacrifices, however, were necessary for her to achieve her unprecedented accomplishment.
Rebeca Andrade was one of her mother Rosa Rodrigues’ eight children, born in a favela on the outskirts of São Paulo. “Mum used to borrow money to buy meals for us. “Every item of clothing I owned was a gift from someone I knew,” Andrade previously told CGTN America. Despite her financial struggles as a single mother, Rodrigues recognised her daughter’s extraordinary gymnastics talent. Andrade’s mother and her siblings did everything in their power to support the prodigy, even though the family of nine was in terrible financial shape. Rebeca Andrade described how frequently she wouldn’t have enough money to ride the bus to her gym in Sao Paulo in an interview with Canal GB on August 9. The Olympian said to host Galvão Bueno, “My mother would give her a ticket to go to work so that my brother and I could go.” She disclosed that her mother was a frequent traveler and a maid. Nevertheless, Rodrigues kept carrying the extra weight until he became physically tired. The two-time Olympic gold medallist continued, “After a few months she started to sense that she was getting quite fatigued.”
At that moment, Rebeca Andrade’s mother asked for the bus pass at last, and her family decided that she would walk to the gym. The world champion gymnast’s passion for gymnastics overcame her early interest in the sport. Andrade’s siblings stepped up, though, as Rodrigues was about to give up.
The brothers of the most decorated Olympic gymnast from Brazil prevented her from going alone to the gym. They did more than just accompany their sister, even though they did not practise the sport.
How the family was saved by Rebeca Andrade’s coach The siblings of the nine-time world champion medallist made sure she would make time for what matters most. The 25-year-old said to the host, “My elder brothers always took amazing care of the younger ones, they always tried to help my mother as much as possible.”
Her brothers not only assisted their mother in raising their younger siblings, but they also made sure that home duties wouldn’t interfere with Andrade’s training. However, the price of advancing and competing in the sport grew intolerable in spite of all their sacrifices.
At that point, Keli Kitaura, her coach, stepped in to save the day. When Kitaura saw Rebeca Andrade’s promise, at the age of ten, she took her in and spent the weekends with her family. But without her mother’s altruistic sacrifices, it would never have even been feasible to get in touch with her then-coach.
“I doubt if any of these medals are exclusively mine. There are a lot of hands working here, and I’m proud of everyone. Fatima Bernardes was told by Andrade once. We now understand why the iconic Brazilian woman in gymnastics is so modest despite writing the history of her country.
Leave a Reply